President Biden was called out on Tuesday for making another eyebrow-raising remark about the Nashville school shooting when he joked about the motive of the 28-year-old shooter who murdered three adults and three children in a Christian grade school Monday.
Asked whether he agrees with the theory that Christians were specifically targeted in Monday's shooting rampage, Biden told reporters from the White House South Lawn, "I have no idea."
When one reporter told the president that Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., believes that the shooting was in fact a hate crime against Christians, a smiling Biden retorted, "Well, I probably don't then."
"No, I'm joking," he added. "I have no idea."
NASHVILLE SHOOTING SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AS A HATE CRIME, HAWLEY SAYS
Biden's tone surrounding the shooting has come under fire as critics accuse the president of making tone-deaf, distasteful remarks while American families grapple with the impact of the horrific shooting.
On Monday, he was criticized for joking that he only made a public appearance because he heard there would be ice cream before addressing the attack that stunned the country hours earlier.
"My name is Joe Biden. I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband," Biden said from the White House's East Room in his first public appearance after the shooting. "I eat Jeni’s ice cream — chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream," he continued. "By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs," he added. "You think I’m kidding? I’m not," Biden told the crowd.
Biden later called the shooting "sick" and "heartbreaking" while demanding Congress do more to "stop the gun violence." But critics went after the president for his apparent lack of empathy and seemingly playful tone before addressing the tragedy.
NASHVILLE SCHOOL SHOOTING: OFFICERS WHO TOOK OUT SUSPECTED COVENANT SHOOTER IDENTIFIED
"To say that he misunderstood the moment would be an understatement," former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told Fox News later Monday.
"There’s no way to talk about something like this except to say that for all of us who are parents, what we dread every day is the news about the health and life of our children," Christie added. "And so there’s no room to joke in that circumstance at all. And certainly not from the President of the United States."
Hawley responded to Biden's joke on Tuesday, tweeting, "What a disgrace."
Hawley called on the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate the shooting as a hate crime, tweeting earlier in the day, "We should be clear about what happened in Nashville. Police say the shooting was ‘targeted.' That makes it a federal hate crime - against Christian children and teachers. Targeting victims on the basis of religious affiliation is a hate crime. It should be investigated as such."
NASHVILLE SCHOOL SHOOTING: 6 KILLED INCLUDING 3 STUDENTS, SHOOTER DEAD
Police revealed that Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a female Nashville resident who identified as transgender, used two "assault-style" rifles and a pistol to kill three nine-year-old students and three adults at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. Hale died after being shot by police following the violence. Police said she was once a student at the school and suffered from an emotional disorder.
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake also confirmed Tuesday that a motive remains unknown and that Hale had targeted the school but not any individual victims specifically. The school operates as a ministry of Nashville's Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Police found writings that indicated her attack was "calculated and planned." Police also recovered diagrams of the school layout, with possible entry points highlighted, as well as drawing depicting Hale in the same outfit worn during the attack, Drake said.
